Leasehold Nightmares

eddddy

It sounds like the situation is like this:

Most HAs say something like this about shared ownership leasehold houses "Your house is initially leasehold, but when you staircase to 100% we will automatically transfer the freehold to you, assuming we own the freehold."

• So the HA telephone agent probably quoted the generic rule, as above, but forgot to mention the "assuming we own the freehold" bit (possibly because it's an unusual situation). So I guess there's the question of whether that amounts to actionable misrepresentation.

• Others have raised the question of whether your original conveyancing solicitor should have highlighted this and said "This is an unusual shared ownership house, because the freehold will not be automatically transferred to you if you staircase to 100%". I guess you could try complaining to the solicitor about this.

When you originally bought the property, did anyone explicitly say that the freehold would be automatically transferred to you, if you staircased to 100%?

When you instructed your solicitor for the staircasing, did you say something like "I want to staircase to 100%, and have the freehold automatically transferred" or did you just say "I want to staircase to 100%". (If it's the latter, I wonder if the solicitor should have warned you that the freehold would not be automatically transferred.)

starboyx

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6679378/leasehold-nightmares

That sounds incredibly frustrating, especially after you were told you’d get the freehold when you staircased to 100%. I’d definitely get everything checked with your solicitor and look at your original lease and staircasing documents before agreeing to anything. Hopefully there’s a way to sort it out without leaving you out of pocket.